Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is the alternative path to the ending of the Battle Angel Alita series.  Alita has regenerated herself into the world of combat.  In Volume 12, with her companions, she changes the Z.O.T.T. and exposes some of the Government's dark secrets.

Highlights:

Volume 12 starts off with Alita pulling herself together, literally.  Aga Mbadi (Chairman of the military forces), and his cronies appear with the intention of eliminating the returning threat of the Battle Angel.  Mbadi has the ability to control things with his thoughts, not his mind, he has to think about it really hard.  Not surprisingly, Alita gets past his minions, and she's got her fist rocketing towards Mbadi's stomach.  This is when the power of thought doesn't work against the power of plot.  Alita shatters Mbadi's thoughts and he goes flying to the nearest wall.

In the process of this epic, but short-lived, battle, the news was able to catch all of the dirty secrets Mbadi says about himself and the way the Z.O.T.T. competitions are run.  Oops.  Well, on that bombshell, Alita decides to take advantage of Mbadi.  She forces him to agree, on live TV, that the winner of the Z.O.T.T. will get complete rulership of Earth, and the capital city called The Scrapyard.  For the rest of the volume, the history and current conflict of the grossly popular sport of Karate unfolds.

Overall:

At the beginning of the manga, there is a recap of the previous series, and Volume 1-11 of Last Order. Never having heard of the series, I thought this would be pretty nice, but it was more confusing than needed.  This befuddlement continues throughout the manga.  There is also an overwhelming cheesiness when it came to the subject of Karate.

The characters were, for the most part, shallow and predictable.  The plot is weak and is too much like a slapstick comedy, only with bloodshed and carnage.  It wasn't what I expected.  I was surprised at how over-worked everything was, and the fact that not much was achieved in Vol. 12.  There was plenty of potential.

Overall, I liked it as a comedy, but there was just too much going on at once and I felt like the plot was being rushed, and everything was about to be explained at once through a bunch of flashbacks.  I didn't feel connected to the characters at all, but, if you're looking for some bloody humor, this is for you (but start with the first series).

ComicsOnline gives Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Vol. 12 3.5 out of 5 cheesy Karate MASTERS!